tie guan yin iron goddess of mercy oolong tea

tie guan yin iron goddess of mercy dry tea leaves

tie guan yin iron goddess of mercy tea liquor in cup

tie guan yin iron goddess of mercy wet tea leaves floating in cup

oolongtime

Tie Guan Yin - Iron Goddess Of Mercy - Oolong Tea

US$9.00

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25g 50g 75g 150g

Quantity

A legendary tea. It traces its roots to Anxi County, Fujian province, China and is named after the Goddess of Mercy, which is said to have gifted this tea to a poor farmer for tirelessly maintaining one of her crumbling temples. As a reward, she bestowed the farmer with a vision showing the way to a remote cave, at the end of which he would find a tea sapling. He was then told to grow and nurture this sapling into tea bushes and share their prosperity with all his neighbours as a sign of mercy and compassion. The iron part in the name comes from its bold flavours and robust colour. Modern-day Chinese versions of this tea tend to be processed quite green. However, our Taiwanese version stays true to its traditional form, heavily oxidised and roasted, bringing out warming wood and spice notes. A time-consuming and laborious tea to produce that involves numerous stages of tossing, rolling and roasting, at times taking up to 60 hours. This tea takes well to high temperatures and offers an impressive number of infusions. Its strong character makes it a great one to try for coffee lovers as well. Otherwise known as Ti Kuan Yin, Iron Buddha or TGY.

Overview

Origin
● Harvest: 1st week May 2021
● Location: Muzha, Taipei City, Taiwan
● Altitude: 300-500m
● Cultivar: Hong Xin Wai Wei Tao

Processing
● Method: hand-picked
● Pluck: bud plus 2-3 leaves
● Oxidation: 50-60%
● Roast: heavy

Tasting notes

Appearance
● Dry leaf: very tightly rolled curls of varying size, cocoa bean brown colour
● Wet leaf: unfurls minimally, bruised edges
● Liquor: mahogany colour, orange-brown hue

Aroma
● Dry leaf: chocolate, cedarwood, pepper, date
● Wet leaf: tobacco, hops, apricot jam
● Empty cup: bark, wet stone

Flavour
● Taste: malt, squash
● Aftertaste: roasted chestnut, peat
● Mouthfeel: thick, velvety, low astringency

tie guan yin iron goddess of mercy flavour wheel by oolongtime

Brewing tips

The following tips are for your guidance.
Please feel free to adjust to taste.

Gongfu style
● 5-6g per 100ml at 95°C (205°F)
● 5-10 secs to rinse
● 20-30 secs for 1st steep
● add 10-15 secs for each re-steep
● 6-9 steeps total

Western style
● 1.2-1.5g per 100ml at 95-100°C (205-212°F)
● 2-3 mins for 1st steep
● add 30-60 secs for each re-steep
● 2-3 steeps total

What our customers say

Based on 4 reviews LEAVE A REVIEW

Very good!

Order arrived super fast! Tea was packaged in zipper bags that had some origin info written on them and the order also included a useful flavour wheel. I ordered a few different oolongs, but the TGY is the one that really stood out! It is heavily roasted as advertised, but not in any way offensive. I'll be back looking to try some of the greener oolongs this spring!

Toasty. Good for a rainy day!

This tea is perfect for a rainy day. It has that warming energy, a result of the roasting process.

Super roast

Heavily roasted as advertised. I've tried some TieGuanYins that can taste a bit like an ash tray, but this one gets the balance just right. Could definitely also pick up those chocolate aromas when first opening the bag. And also that fresh tobacco leaf aroma from the wet leaves. Anybody who enjoys a peatey whiskey must give this a taste.

It just keeps on going!

Funky! You can really keep going with the infusions too. Doing the later ones with cooler water over looong periods, my guess is that you could get 10 good infusions out of this. The only reason for 4 stars is because I actually prefer something a touch less roasted, like a Dongding. Otherwise, thumbs up!